What books are you reading and why?

www.amazon.co.uk/Bedpans-Bobby-Socks-American-Lifetime/dp/0751544043?tag=gransnetforum-21

I am reading * Bedpans & Bobbysox, Five British Nurses on the American trip of a Lifetime by Barbara Fox and Gwenda Gofton*............. true story of a group of nurses one of which spotted an ad in the Nursing Mirror for nurses in American Hospital wanted on a one year contract for Ninety Pounds a month and couldn't believe her eyes. This was 1956/7 after all. I recommend this to all...They bought an old car and travelled across America ......

I am currently reading The Story Teller by Evie Gaughan. It is enchanting... well i think so. A young woman leaving her husband gets drunk at the airport and ends up on a plane to Ireland and not to her sister as intended. Its a story about an old diaries, fairies good and evil, i couldnt put it down when i first started it, i am rationing myself. I love all the descriptions of the area she ends up in and the characters of the people she meets. If you want to loose yourself in some lighthearted fantasy this may be the book for you.

I’m reading Edith Wharton ‘The Reef” and loving it. She is one of my favourite authors and nice to know that as she was so prolific, there are lots more to read.
I don’t read very much contemporary fiction as the classics are good for me! The use of language and the ways of a time gone by fascinate me.
I sometimes wonder what a writer of fiction under 30 can now tell me which will be a surprise (unless they are Emily Bronte).
Does anyone else feel this way?

I am reading our book club choice, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. It is leaving me cold I am afraid. Over 400 pages of small print and a cast of thousands. I am not influenced by, jealous of or impressed by the world of the super rich which is what this book is about. Another member picked this book so I will give it my best shot. I don't know if anyone has read it and enjoyed it, but it is not for me.

As I posted on another thread yesterday, American Dirt is the book that I have enjoyed reading the most during the past year. I agree TerriBull it would make a fantastic film and can see Jennifer Lopez in the main role as the mother.

Just started “The Earth is Weeping” by Peter Cozzens, about the Indian Wars in the American West. It’s both a shocking and an illuminating account of how the native Americans were overrun and lost their land to the huge tide of white settlers and how the American government (headed by The Great White Father) reneged on every deal it made with them. For someone whose only experience of this period of American history has come from watching John Wayne films? it is a real eye opener.

I am reading William Hague's biography of William Wilberforce because I have found that he (WW) is very very distantly related to me. It is a very good read about a period of history I didn't know much about.

NotTooOld

inishowen

I'm reading American Dirt. Its a brilliant book, set in Mexico. It will open your eyes.

Agree. I loved that book.

Me too! gruelling but an excellent read. I think the book would be good material for a film or Netflix series.

silverlining48

Doesn’t Fitz in a name denote illigitimacy?

I believe it does, silverlining. Weren't the king's illegitimate children always called Fitz.....something? Perhaps it denotes aristocratic connections but on the wrong side of the blanket?

Greyduster

I’m reading “Black Diamonds” by Catherine Bailey. It’s the story of the Fitzwilliam family and their house, Wentworth Woodhouse, which is very near to us. The family’s history is one of immense riches, shameful intrigues and ultimate downfall. We visited the park some years ago and the house, which has the longest facade of any house in Europe, was falling into disrepair but is now being restored.

I really enjoyed Black Diamonds, Greyduster. I saw Wentworth Woodhouse on TV recently and yes, you are right, it is being restored.

inishowen

I'm reading American Dirt. Its a brilliant book, set in Mexico. It will open your eyes.

Agree. I loved that book.

I'm just rereading Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. He rode his bike around the world in the 1970s and its fascinating. 54 countries in 4 years and 63000 miles. You're with him every mile. He's now in his 90s I believe.

Maggiemaybe

I’m finding it very repetitive, Namsnanny, I haven’t really taken to any of the characters, and for me the prose doesn’t “flow”. I wondered if it was because it’s been translated, but most people seem to love it.

Thank you.

Hellogirl1

I loved A Thousand Splendid Suns. Have you read The Kite Runner?

I haven't read The Kite Runner. I have heard the book mentioned but I didn't realise it was by the same author. I enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns so much, I will definitely get a copy of The Kite Runner. Thanks for the recommendation.

I loved A Thousand Splendid Suns. Have you read The Kite Runner?

I have just re-read One Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini. It is an excellent book detailing the lives of women forced into marriage in Afghanistan and living under different regimes including the Taliban prior to the USA's arrival. Very topical and very disquieting.

I am re-reading Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. I read it years ago and it was suggested for our book group so am giving it another visit. And I am enjoying it again.

I have a pretty widespread genre list that I enjoy, although I admit I don't read biographies or auto-biographies very often.

I’m finding it very repetitive, Namsnanny, I haven’t really taken to any of the characters, and for me the prose doesn’t “flow”. I wondered if it was because it’s been translated, but most people seem to love it.

I'm enjoying The Midnight Library much more than A Man Called Ove, I just feel it could be so much better.
In what way MaggieMaybe?

eazybee

I am reading The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai and I am sorry but I cannot recommend it.

Thank you eazybee, a recommendation against a book is just as valid.
If you come back could you elaborate why?

I'm currently reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman and the Midnight Library by Matt Haig, both for my Reading Group meeting next week. I really should have read them one after the other, but I always have one book on the go on my Kindle so that I can read if I wake up in the night, and I prefer a proper book otherwise. I'm enjoying The Midnight Library much more than the other, though all the rave reviews I've read about Ove suggest I'm in the minority. I just feel it could be so much better.

Because I’m on holiday with just hand baggage, and virtually all the books in friend’s holiday home are in Swedish, I’m re reading all the lovely Barbara Pyms on my kindle - just finished Excellent Women and started Jane and Prudence.
Also re read a Trollope (much longer) - The Eustace Diamonds.

MOnica, what’s the title of that Forest London book please?

I’m reading ‘Scrublands’by Chris Hammer. A really good read, I know some of the places he mentions and he is very skilled at describing places and building up tension. I am also reading a history book about William Wilberforce by way of a contrast.